How to Overcome Self Doubt

We are all aware of the phrase “You are your own enemy”. Unfortunately, this is often true when we try to manifest a better life for ourselves. Whether we want to find a job, get healthy, or complete an important project at work, we may often end up thinking self-defeating thoughts like “I Can’t do this.” When you self-doubt you hold yourself back from the things you want the most by acting and thinking in ways that make you less likely to succeed.

Let’s look at 6 powerful ways that will help us to overcome self-doubt.

1. Self Reflection: One way you can overcome self-doubt is to consistently self-reflect. keep a daily journal in which you honestly write about your experiences. You need to monitor how you are feeling. The more aware you become of your thoughts, the more you take power away from these limiting negative thoughts. Review what you have written to see if you pick up on any important insights or patterns. Sit in silence thereafter for a few minutes, allowing these negative thought patterns to release through your breath. Breathe slowly and deeply. Simply repeat, “I Let go of these thoughts, I am now free”

2. Self-talk – Ask yourself, “how many times when I doubted myself was I able to be happy and successful?. The answer is not very often. Your feelings are your guidance mechanism like a GPS within. Doubt does not make you feel good. This ‘not feeling good’ is an indication that you need to change the way you feel in order to succeed at what you are doing. Visualize things working out very well for you. Imagine the happy end result of whatever it is that you wish to accomplish.

3. Stop comparing yourself with others: if you keep comparing your results with others, you will always find someone you feel inferior to and this will always keep you in self-doubt. The best way to overcome this problem is to compare yourself to yourself, to see how far you have come, see what you have overcome and seen how you have kept going, succeeded and grown as a human being. You are your only competition. Try to keep bettering yourself.

4. Be your own cheerleader: When in doubt, Spend the next few moments recalling your past accomplishments, even the really small ones. Fight the negative voice in your head to prove to yourself that you are capable of doing great work. You are worthy of success. Whether someone believes in you or not. your success does not depend on what other people think of you.  People are bound to have their own opinions and judgements. But don’t let their words or actions bother you.  It takes time to break negative thought patterns, but with persistence, you can break out of them and achieve the success you desire!

5. Overcome Past Guilt: You may have made some big mistakes knowingly or unknowingly. Remind yourself that you were a different person then. You are far more aware now. As long as you have true repentance in your heart, the universe will guide you and protect you. You deserve success today no matter what your past has been like. So whatever you do, so it with confidence that you deserve to win.

6. Don’t put yourself in Pressure: Sometimes one may have a lot of pressure to perform. This pressure affects the end result negatively. In fact, if you have perfectionist tendencies, you will often let opportunities pass you by entirely, due to believing there will be a “perfect time” to act. Try to remind yourself that perfection is impossible. if you were to take a look at successful people you deeply admire, you will realize they are not perfect too. You don’t have to be perfect, you have to just try your best, and the universe will take care of the rest.

Challenge your way of thinking and your behaviours while remembering to be kind to yourself.

Instead of being your own worst enemy, commit today to be your own best friend.

All the best!

Dr. Karishma Ahuja, PhD